


stay surrounding me

by SiderumInCaelo



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Backrubs, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Massage, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 14:33:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15865548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiderumInCaelo/pseuds/SiderumInCaelo
Summary: Newt gives Credence a back-rub.





	stay surrounding me

**Author's Note:**

> Happy September 1st everyone! ...Er, enjoy this self-indulgent fic that doesn't involve Hogwarts at all in celebration?
> 
> Title taken from "Warm Whispers" by Missy Higgins.

Newt noticed Credence kept rubbing the back of his neck, sometimes reaching further down to his shoulders.  He didn’t think much of it at first, probably not least because Credence himself only seemed to be half-aware of what he was doing.  But when Newt saw Credence rolling his neck like he was trying to stretch it out and grimacing slightly when he moved his shoulders a certain way, he couldn’t help but be concerned.

“Is your neck sore?” he asked.

“Oh, um, a bit, I suppose,” Credence said, looking rather surprised by the question.  “It’s not bad, though,” he quickly added.

“You know you can tell me when something’s bothering you, even if you don’t think it’s that serious, right?”  Newt probed gently.  “I want you to be happy here.”

Credence raised his shoulders in a half-shrug.  “I know,” he mumbled.  “It's just... hard, sometimes.”

His cheeks looked a little pink, so Newt didn’t press any further on that front, and returned to the issue at hand.  “Tell me what hurts?  I might have something that can help.”

“My neck feels kind of tight?  I mostly notice it most when I move my neck and shoulders the wrong way.”

“I’ve got a salve that will probably help; it’s a mild analgesic and muscle relaxant.”  He drew his wand out and summoned it; a few seconds later the jar flew into his open hand.  “You just rub it in where it hurts.  Or,” he added, rather more hesitantly, “I could apply it for you?  Since parts of your back can be hard to reach.”

Credence was silent at first and Newt began to worry that he had overstepped, but then Credence said, “Please, if you don’t mind.”

“’Course not.  Just let me –” he quickly moved the objects littering the nearby table, then enlarged it so it was long enough for Credence to lie down on, and heightened the legs so the top reached his hips.  He added a Cushioning Charm to the top as well, for good measure.

“Just hop up and take your shirt off,” he told Credence, gesturing with his hand.

Credence perched himself on the table and started to unbutton his shirt, but stopped halfway.  “I have scars,” he said quietly, not looking at Newt.

“I figured,” Newt admitted.  “If you’re not comfortable with me seeing them, you can still put the salve on by yourself.  But your scars won’t change how I see you.”

Credence didn’t say anything in response, but he finished undoing his buttons and pulled his shirt off, then laid down on the table, presenting his back to Newt.

His scars were numerous, more so than Newt had hoped, and once again he wished that he could have helped Credence – helped anyone – before they were hurt instead of after.  But all he could change was the here and now, so he scooped out a glob of salve with his fingers and lightly rubbed it between his palms to warm it up, then spread it on Credence’s back.

However, he had barely started when he felt a shudder run through Credence.  He paused, asking, “Everything all right?”

Credence muttered “Fine,” so Newt continued, but after just a moment Credence trembled again.  This time, Newt pulled his hands away completely.  “Credence, if you don’t like this we can stop; the point is to make you feel _better_ , not worse.”

“I do like it,” Credence said, as he sat up to face Newt.  “It feels – it feels really good, actually,” he continued, folding his arms across his chest.  “I’m just not used to being touched like this.”  His head was tilted down, but even so Newt could see his cheeks turn pink at that admission.

“Oh,” Newt said, suddenly understanding.  “All right then.  Lie back down and we’ll keep going, then.”

Credence did so, and Newt returned to spreading the salve on him.  He used quick, broad swipes to get a layer of salve all over Credence’s back, then returned to the base of Credence’s neck, and, applying more pressure than he had before, dragged his hands down Credence’s back, parallel to his spine.  He felt Credence shiver again but this time he didn’t stop; he finished his stroke just above the waistband of Credence’s trousers before returning to his neck and repeating the motion.

Then he switched to kneading into Credence’s skin with his knuckles, pulling them upwards in short bursts along Credence’s left side until he had reached his shoulder, and doing the same on Credence’s other side.

As he went on, he thought he could feel Credence’s muscles growing relaxed and more pliable under his hands, and saw that Credence’s eyes had fluttered closed.  The salve had been thoroughly rubbed in, but Newt kept going.  Though Credence has adjusted admirably well in the months since he had moved into the suitcase, it was still rare to see him as comfortable as he was now, and Newt was loath to put an end to it.

With one hand still kneading Credence’s back, Newt quickly grabbed some more salve with the other to keep his hands slick, then moved his attentions to Credence’s neck.  He started right where Credence’s hair ended (he had to push some strands out of the way first; it had grown out since Credence arrived), dragging his thumbs in small circles slowly downward.  But when he got to the shoulder area, he must have hit a certain spot, because Credence let out – there was really no other word for it – a soft moan.

Then Credence immediately tensed up and said “Sorry” in a very small voice like he’d done something terrible.  Newt carefully kept his motions the same and said, in what he hoped was a casual tone, “Nothing to apologize for.  This is supposed to feel good, after all.”

What little Newt could see of Credence’s cheeks was still bright pink, but Credence didn’t say anything else and gradually relaxed again as Newt continued massaging circles into his neck, eventually moving down his back.

After a while Newt’s arms grew tired, and he regretfully pulled away from Credence.  Credence’s eyes were closed and his breathing deep enough that Newt wasn’t sure if he was still awake, but when he stepped away Credence pushed himself into a sitting position. 

Newt handed Credence’s shirt back to him, but Credence didn’t meet his eyes as he took it, and immediately turned away from Newt as he put it on.  Suddenly the awkwardness in the air was palpable, and Newt worried that this had been a bad idea after all, that he had pushed Credence into something he wasn’t comfortable with.  As he was silently panicking, Credence stood and walking towards the door as if to leave the room, but stopped before he reached it and turned around.

“Thank you.  My back feels a lot better,” he said, sounding sincere but still keeping his gaze downward, and Newt, his chest loosening in relief, realized that Credence _had_ liked it, just wasn’t used to that kind of contact.

“You’re very welcome,” Newt replied, a smile breaking across his face.  “Let me know if you ever want me to do it again, all right?”

“I will,” Credence said, smiling himself before he ducked out of the room.

Newt wasn’t sure if Credence really would, hesitant as he was to ask for anything.  But, Newt thought, there was nothing stopping him from offering again.


End file.
